NEWARK, Del. — The romantic Brandywine Valley of Delaware was the site of the wedding of Miss Meredith K. Bullamore and Mr. Brian Hanna on March 1, 2008, at seven-thirty in the evening. The double ring ceremony took place in the historic United Methodist Church on Main Street in Newark, where the groom’s parents were married almost three decades before.
The bride, the former Meredith Katharine Bullamore, is the eldest daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Henry W. Bullamore of Frostburg, Md. She is the granddaughter of Dr. and Mrs. Arne Bjorndal of Iowa City, Iowa, and the late Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Bullamore of Kenosha, Wis. Meredith is a merit graduate of the former Beall High School of Frostburg. She is a political science and Italian graduate of the University of Delaware in Newark, and earned a master’s degree from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. Currently, Meredith is a grant administrator for the Division of Genetics at Harvard Medical School.
The groom, Brian Stewart Hanna, is the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Hanna of suburban Wilmington and the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. George Hanna of Dagsboro and the late Mr. and Mrs. William Ward of Newark. Brian is a graduate of the Charter School of Wilmington and the University of Delaware in Newark, where he completed a distinguished undergraduate program in chemistry. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in inorganic chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. Working with a Nobel Prize winning advisor, his work is targeted at reducing the energy production required to produce ammonia.
The church was decorated with elegant white roses with accents of gardenia and green ivy designed by Kirk’s Florist to set off the classic simplicity of the historic church. Guests were seated by ushers and friends, David Chotin, Chris Hoopes and Steve Haack. Senior bridesmaids entered the church accompanied by the ushers. The senior bridesmaids, friends of the bride’s mother, were present to witness Brian’s proposal of marriage to Meredith. Mr. Lowell Chapman accompanied the senior bridesmaids.
The mother and father of the groom, Mr. and Mrs. Wayne and Charlotte Hanna, were escorted to their seats by Mr. Jeff Hanna, best man and brother of the groom. Groomsman Keith Wampler escorted Mrs. Katharine Bjorndal, grandmother of the bride, to her seat, while Ms. Sinead O’Flanagan escorted Dr. Arne Bjorndal to his seat. The mother of the bride entered the church on the arm of groomsman Paul Sweeney.
The groom and groomsmen then entered with the Rev. David Palmer, who officiated at the ceremony. Groomsmen included Mr. Paul Sweeney from Dublin, Ireland, and Mr. Keith Wampler from Boston, Mass., and St. Louis, Mo. Paul is a graduate of MIT’s mechanical engineering program and Keith is a doctorate student in the department of chemistry at MIT. The best man was Mr. Jeff Hanna, brother of the groom. He is a resident of suburban Wilmington and a student of civil engineering at the University of Delaware.
The bridesmaids were led into the church by the flower girl, Miss Kalee Lashley, a third grade student at the Fort Ashby Primary School in West Virginia. The first attendant was bridesmatron Mrs. Sarah Carmen, of Fort Ashby. Mrs. Carmen is the wife of Mr. Donald Carmen and is currently starting her own catering business, Sarah Bella, in Cumberland, Md. The second bridesmaid was Ms. Stephanie Johnson of West Chester, Pa., and Washington, D.C. A master’s degree graduate of Thomas Jefferson University, she is now a licensed occupational therapist and is currently working at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. The maid of honor was Miss Margaret Bullamore of Frostburg, Md., and the sister of the bride. Miss Bullamore is a recent graduate of the University of Delaware with majors in geography, Spanish, and Latin American studies. She is currently studying for her master’s degree in geography at Ohio University.
The bride entered the sanctuary to the “Lohengrin Bridal March” played on the historic pipe organ of the church. She wore a horizontally ruched full-length gown of heavy weight raw silk in candlelight white and custom designed in Boston. The dress was complimented by a traditional Italian bridal veil of the style used in Tuscany during the 1920s, with hand-sewn pearl and crystal beading, designed and crafted by Miss Michelina of Newton, Mass. Manolo Blahnik shoes in teal with rhinestones buckles complemented the bridal attire. For something new, the bride wore a conflict-free diamond pendant, which was a wedding gift from the groom. For something blue, she wore her Great Aunt Ruth’s aquamarine and mine cut diamond ring. For something borrowed, the bride wore a tourmaline and diamond bangle from Finland, loaned to her by her mother. For something old, she wore custom designed earrings that were originally part of an antique brooch owned by her Great Aunt Marion Bullamore. She carried a bouquet of tightly wrapped white roses accented with English ivy which was grown from ivy that came from her mother’s bridal bouquet. Meredith was escorted into the church by her father, Dr. H. W. Bullamore.
The wedding ceremony included readings of a special passage from First Corinthians and a selection from George Elliott by Mr. and Mrs. Rob and Kyle Joseph, long-time friends of the bride and groom. After Rev. Palmer pronounced Brian and Meredith husband and wife, the couple and attendants left the church to the classic strains of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” which was the recessional at the bride’s parents’ wedding in Iowa City, Iowa, 30 years ago.
The reception for nearly 200 guests was held in the main ballroom and bar of the Newark Country Club. The ballroom was elegant with chocolate brown tablecloths and glowed with teal glitter candles placed in low recycled glass votive holders. In addition, each table had a low centerpiece of lush white roses. In lieu of traditional wedding favors, guests were pleased to find that the bride and groom had made a donation in their honor to the American Diabetes Association. Each guest received a rolled note to commemorate the donation. Catering for the reception was by the executive chef at the Newark Country Club and provided guests with an array of culinary delights.
The wedding cake was designed by Chef Duff of Charm City Cakes of Baltimore, Md., and was constructed to resemble a stack of suitcases showcasing the bride and groom’s love of travel. The largest suitcase on the bottom of the stack was adorned with brown icing and labeled with edible stickers to represent the couple’s education institutions and favorite college football teams, University of Del-aware, Villanova and MIT. The second suitcase had stickers that represented places Brian and Meredith had traveled together, places they would love to visit again and places that hold special meaning to them. The third suitcase was decorated with stickers of places that the couple intends to vacation in the future, including their honeymoon in Japan and Hawaii. The cake was topped with a Louis Vuitton handbag confection, a designer fav-orite of the bride, which the groom has realized too late. In addition, the cake featured the bride and groom’s cats, Fendi and Gabbi, digging into the third layer, and confectionery statues of a “Princess” bride and “Mad Scientist” groom tying the knot. Charm City Cakes is featured on the Food Network show “Ace of Cakes,” and their Web site, www.charmcitycakes.com, contains a picture of Meredith and Brian’s cake.
Award-winning photographer George Knotts of G&G; Studio, Cumberland, traveled to Newark to capture pictures of the weekend events.
The maid of honor and bridesmaids held two showers for the bride. One was held at the Newark Country Club in Newark and the other at the home of the bride’s parents in Frostburg. Friends of Meredith in Cambridge, Mass., held bridal events honoring her there.
The rehearsal dinner was hosted by the groom’s parents at Klondike Kate’s in Newark. Guests dined on a buffet supper that featured favorites of the groom from his youth, including a custom cake baked by his mother. The bride’s father presented a slide show of the bride and groom that was poignant at times and hilarious at other times. It was at this time that the bride and groom presented their parents with gifts as a thank you for their love and support. Kari and Hank Bullamore received a watercolor of Klondike Kate’s, where the rehearsal dinner was held, and Charlotte and Wayne Hanna received a watercolor of the Newark United Methodist Church, where both they and Meredith and Brian were married.
The morning after the wedding the bride and groom met their guests, who had traveled from all over the world to join Meredith and Brian for their wedding, at their hotel for breakfast and to wish them all safe travels. The couple then left to spend a long weekend at the Chesapeake Inn. Meredith and Brian honeymooned in May in scenic Sendai and Tokyo, Japan, and then cruised the Hawaiian Islands for a week. The bride and groom currently reside in Cambridge.
The bride and groom extend their thanks to each and every person who helped to make their wedding unique and special.
